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"Oh, let's go!" shouted Laddie.
"Children! Children!" murmured Mother Bunker. "Less noise, please! What will Uncle Fred think of you?"
"Oh, I don't mind the noise," replied the Westerner. "I'm used to that. Sometimes, when the cowboys are feeling pretty good, they whoop and yell like Indians."
"Are there any Indians out there?" asked Russ eagerly. "I mean out at your ranch?"
"Yes, a few," answered Uncle Fred.
"And where is your ranch?" Laddie inquired.
All interest in the scooter was lost in Uncle Fred's arrival. And if he planned to take the six little Bunkers somewhere they wanted to hear all about that. So they crowded close around him.
"My ranch," said Uncle Fred, "is out in Montana, near a place called Moon City. The name of my place is Three Star, and -- -- "
"Is there a moon, too?" asked Violet.
"Well, the name of the town, as I said, is Moon City, and I suppose it was named that because the moon looks so beautiful over the mountains. But I am down on the plains, and the reason I call my ranch Three Star is because my cattle are marked with three stars, so I will know them if they should happen to get mixed up...
"When are we going?" asked Russ. "I have to make a lasso if we go out on a ranch. Maybe I'll lasso an Indian."
"So'll I," put in Laddie. "When can we go, Mother?"
"Oh, not for some little time. Uncle Fred has come to pay us a visit. Haven't you?" she went on to her brother.
"Oh, yes, I'm going to stay East a while," he said. "But I'm desirous of getting back to Three Star," he added. "There's something queer been going on there, and I want to find out what it is. That's one reason I came on East -- to try to find out what's wrong at my place. There certainly is something queer there!"
"Is it a ghost?" asked Violet.
"No, hardly a ghost," answered Uncle Fred with a laugh. "What do you know about ghosts, anyhow?"
"There was one at Grandpa Ford's," explained Rose.
"But we found out what it was," added Russ.
"But first it made terribly queer noises," said Laddie.
"Well, the only queer noises out at Three Star Ranch are made by the cowboys, and sometimes by the Indians," said Uncle Fred. "No, this is something different. But it might almost as well be a ghost for all I can find out about it. It certainly is very queer," he went on to his sister. "I have lost a great many cattle ...
"Another reason I came on," he added, "is to take you all back with me to Moon City, and let the children have fun out on my ranch."
"Do you mean to take us all out West?" asked Rose.
"Yes, every one of you six little Bunkers, and your father and mother, too," returned Uncle Fred.
"Can we go, Mother?" begged Russ.
"I'll see about it," was the answer. "But we'd all better go downstairs now. Uncle Fred must be tired from his long trip, and I want to get him a cup of tea. It is raining hard still, so you children can't go out and play."
"We don't want to," said Vi. "We want to see Uncle Fred."
"I like Uncle Fred!" exclaimed Mun Bun, going up to his mother's brother and clasping his hand. "I like him awful much!"
"And I like you, too," replied Uncle Fred, catching the little fellow up in his arms.
"I like him, too!" exclaimed Margy, who was not going to be left out.
"That's the girl! I knew you wouldn't forget me!" and with a laugh Uncle Fred caught her up also, and danced about the attic, with a child in each arm.
"Is it far out to your ranch?" asked Russ.
"Quite a way, little man," answered Uncle Fred. "It will take us about four days to get there, riding steadily on the train. But we won't start right away. I have some business to do here. But when that is over I hope the weather will be better, and then we can start."
"And stay out there all summer?" asked Laddie.
"Yes, and all winter, too, if you like. We'll be glad to have you."
"We seem to do nothing but visit around of late!" exclaimed Mother Bunker. "We have been to Grandma Bell's, to Aunt Jo's, to Cousin Tom's, to Grandpa Ford's and now maybe we're going to Uncle Fred's."
"I think it's nice," remarked Rose.
"So do I!" added Vi. "I love to go visiting!"
"Could I ask you that riddle now?" inquired Laddie, as Uncle Fred started downstairs, carrying Margy and Mun Bun.
"Yes," was the answer of the children's uncle. "Go ahead."
"What is it that goes through -- -- "
"Oh, don't ask him that one about what goes through a door but doesn't come into the room!" exclaimed Russ.
"I wasn't!" asserted Laddie. "That's an old one, and the answer is a keyhole. I was going to ask him a new one."
"Well, go ahead," said Uncle Fred.
"What is it goes through -- -- No, that isn't it. Let me see. I almost forgot. Oh, I know! What can you drive without a whip or reins? That's it. What can you drive without a whip or reins?"
"Do you mean an ox?" asked Uncle Fred. "I've seen oxen driven, and the man who drove them didn't use reins as they do on horses, though he did have a goad, which is like a whip."
"No, oxen isn't the answer," said Laddie. "Do you give up?"
"Well, I will, just to see what the answer is," replied Uncle Fred.
"What is it you can drive without a whip or reins?" asked Laddie again. "The answer is a nail. You can drive that with a hammer."
"Ha! Ha! That's a pretty good riddle!" laughed Uncle Fred. "I must try that on some of the cowboys when I get back to Three Star Ranch."